


It's Nice To Have A Friend

by ninidiangelo



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mortal, Angst, Childhood Friends, Fluff, M/M, Mortal AU, but not really, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25104481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninidiangelo/pseuds/ninidiangelo
Summary: Nico looked down feeling his cheeks burn. “They’re your gloves Will.”Will tsk tsked at him and slipped his kitten glove on the smaller boy’s hand.“You’ll be cold,” Nico protested weakly.Will huffed. “Fine.” He dropped Nico’s hand and slipped the other glove back on. Then with a toothy grin he grabbed Nico’s gloveless hand with his own and shoved it in his pocket. “Happy now?Fluffy and slightly angsty (but honestly not much angst) Solangelo oneshot based on/inspired by 'It's Nice To Have A friend' by Taylor Swift :')
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 62





	It's Nice To Have A Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: homophobic slur  
> The POV alternates between Nico and Will a lot through this so hopefully it's not too confusing... It's also not in first person but you'll get what I mean by alternating POVs.  
> Hope you enjoy and it might be nice to listen along to the song while reading!

Nico had no friends. Except Bianca- but that didn’t count. He also no longer had a home either. Home was back in Italy in their wide brick-stoned house distinct with personality. His Nonna and Nonno’s house was also just a street away. Home was also when Mama was still there. 

Not here in this endless concrete space of a ‘home’ where it looked identical to all the houses down the street. The only way he could tell the difference between his house and the next door neighbour’s was the wall painted with sunflowers that sat across from his bedroom window.

So when young Will Solace with his father in tow came knocking on his door one day eager to meet the same-aged Nico di Angelo, Nico was skeptical at his request of friendship. 

Nico didn’t need friends. Didn’t want them. After all, he had Bianca and that was enough…

Or so he thought. One day on these ‘play dates’ Will insisted on, he brought along Mythomagic. And that was the start of a blossoming friendship.

  
  


Will was scribbling down the last notes of the powerpoint slide. He was aware that the only pen-to-paper sound was coming from him. Chairs screeched against the floor and the thump of books spurred the scribble along his page to grow twice its size. Then he heard the first sound of a zipper setting off a chain reaction throughout his class. 

He listened vaguely to Mrs. Minerva as she went through the last bit of information, turned around from her spot at the front of the room and scolded Travis to take his book back out, take notes and  _ listen _ . He heard a few more books open but still, the only source of scritch-scratching was produced from his aching hand. 

A sigh escaped from his left and he glanced up at Nico, pencil case packed away, notebook closed and his bag sitting on his lap as he glared out the window. It was snowing again and Will withheld his own groan.

Nico caught his eyes and smirked. “It’s about time I got you back for the other day.” Will smiled sheepishly at the memory. It was during the first heavy snow of the season and Will couldn’t resist using Nico as a target. The look on Nico’s face was so funny and  _ cute _ . “If you can catch me, that is.” Will nudged Nico’s knee with his own. “Shortie.”

Nico shot him a deadpanned glare and unzipped his bag loudly shoving his things in and just like that, the class followed. That reset the spark of Will’s note taking.

Mrs. Minerva narrowed her eyes at Nico, reprimand on the tip of her tongue when the sharp cry of the bell rang. 

Will panicked, finishing off quickly with chicken scratch as Nico rose from his seat. “Nico,” he whined, “don’t leave without me.”

“But you’re so  _ slow,  _ Will.”

Despite Will’s urge to pack up, his commitment to finishing his notes outweighed the anxiety as his peers spilled out of the room. He eased up as Nico reached for the scatter of school equipment across the two’s desks. He put Will’s highlighters in their little sockets, placed his ruler into its spot and recapped his whiteout. He straightened all of Will’s handouts and put them back into his biology folder. When Will was done, Nico took the pen he was using and zipped up his pencil case and handed it back over. 

“You done?”

Will beamed at him, “Thanks Neeks.”

Nico rolled his eyes and strolled out of the classroom. “I’m leaving slowpoke!”

“Wait!” Will was the last one out but Nico was waiting by the stairs. He hurriedly wrapped his warm, yellow, Apollo edition Mythomagic scarf around his neck, slipped on his matching beanie and stuffed his hands into his black, kitten gloves. 

Nico shook his head at him, a smile touched his lips. “You all bundled up now? I wanna get  _ home _ .”

\----------

Nico got his sweet revenge as he ploughed Will in the face with a fresh ball of snow. 

Will’s ears and cheeks tinged red as he spluttered, “Nico!” He squatted into a shiver and glared back at the dark-haired boy.

Nico ceased any more action after that because ‘it’s cold and my hands are frozen.’ But really, Will looked miserable from the cold and he kind of felt bad even if Will’s smile reappeared almost instantly. But Nico  _ had  _ lost his gloves yesterday so he wasn’t lying when he said it was cold. He dragged Will’s grumbling butt up and stuffed his hands in his pocket. “Payback from the other day.”

“But I didn’t hit you square in the face from like a metre distance!” 

The two bantered back and forth and Nico snickered when Will nearly slipped in a patch of ice. He held Will steady when a bout of cool wind smacked him in the face. He shivered and shielded himself behind the taller boy.

Will started mother-henning Nico on how little he was wearing. The snow was falling steadily and Nico’s thin layers were already getting soaked. He had no beanie or gloves, just a simple, black Mythomagic scarf. So Will just did what always came naturally. Though it still surprised Nico to hear, “Want my gloves?”

Nico scoffed behind him. “From the person who whines about it being cold so much?” He shook his head gently. “No thank you, princess.”

“Nico, I can  _ feel  _ how cold your hands are through my four layers!” Will removed his gloves. “Your fingers are freaking icicles.”

“Will, it’s fine. I don’t get cold as easily as you.” 

Will did not believe him for a second. Nico started shivering and he cursed himself.

The brunette tried his best to tug his hand free from Will’s grasp. Will, with his warm hands, flushed face, and his distracting freckles that were scattered like stars trailing to the prettiest blue eyes... 

Nico looked down feeling his cheeks burn. “They’re your gloves Will.” 

Will tsk tsked at him and slipped his kitten glove on the smaller boy’s hand.

“You’ll be cold,” Nico protested weakly. 

Will huffed. “Fine.” He dropped Nico’s hand and slipped the other glove back on. Then with a toothy grin he grabbed Nico’s gloveless hand with his own and shoved it in his pocket. “Happy now?” Will dragged Nico along looking straight ahead as he started ranting about Lee and Michael.

Nico gawked at their intertwined hands.  _ Oh my god my palms are getting sweaty. Why is my heart beating so fast? Oh gods what if Will thinks I’m weird. He’s going to be grossed out if he notices and- _

“-Nico?”

Nico’s neck snapped up to meet Will’s gaze. “What?”

“Wanna hang out?” His head gestured towards the incoming view of identical houses. “At yours or mine?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” 

Will looked at him funny. “You okay?”

“What?”

“I asked if we should go to yours or mine and you said ‘sure’.” He laughed.

“Oh.” Nico blushed. “Well, I have the new Mythomagic card set or we could play Mario Kart. So probably mine?”

Will bounced on the heels of his feet as he sped Nico along. “Sounds good. You should also go take a warm shower or at least change into warmer clothes you goof.”

“Nico.” A mop of blond hair popped out of the tent flap of Nico’s hideout in the corner of his room. There was some shuffling until Will’s mop of blond curls peeked out. “You decent?”

Nico flushed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah dummy I changed in the bathroom.” Instead of his soaked school clothes, Nico had changed into a pair of comfy, black sweats and a toothless hoodie. He eyed Will as he crawled out, Nico’s switch in hand waving the controller in the air.

“You ready to be crushed by the almighty Princess baby Peach?”

After many tournaments of Mario Kart and matches of Mythomagic, Will was instead pulverised by King Boo and Nico’s legendary SS ranked Hades Card. 

Nico smugly flopped back down in his bat cave of cushions. He kept that SS Hades card a secret until the very last round that Will was misled into believing he was going to win. Will called him an insufferable, cheating nerd and Nico called him out on his bad sportsmanship.

Will let out a large yawn as it was past 9pm; his usual bedtime. Will said he had needed to head back next door soon but instead, he was still complaining about how rigged  _ someone’s  _ green shell aim was as well. Not Nico’s fault that he was born a winner. 

Will plopped down next to him and let out another wide yawn.

“Just sleep over again, you’re already falling asleep.”

“Mmm nah, don’t have pajamas this time and I didn’t tell mu--” Will’s eyes widened comically and he latched onto Nico’s leg.

“Will, wha-.”

“Homework.” 

“What?”

“I forgot I had math homework tomorrow.” He lunged for his bag. “Mrs. Dodds is going to bite my head off.” A desperate tug of Will’s math book let loose all the leaflets he shoved in the back.

Will searched through the mess looking for the stapled sheets of logarithims and ‘stupid math puns’. 

“Nico,  _ help  _ me. I don’t know how to do stupid logarithims.” He found the sheet and pointedly gestured at the equations. “Math was hard enough with multiples of seven. Like what am I supposed to do with cos, sin and tan and all these equations with--”

“Will,  _ chill _ .” Nico reached for his backpack sitting up against the tent’s entrance. “I had to hand that in for class today.” 

“Nico!” Will tugged him in for a hug. “My lifesaver.”

Nico suddenly felt hot and pulled away. “Here, I’ve got the answers and the working--.” 

A red note slipped out from between the pages.

“What’s that?”

Nico snatched it up; it was a folded origami with Will’s name sprawled across in big cursive. Nico had made a mistake. His heart dropped to his stomach as he avoided Will’s intrigued look. 

Earlier that day in the second period, Drew Tanaka who always harassed Nico for hanging around Will, handed Nico the note and demanded he pass it to Will. Nico didn’t ask what it was. He wasn’t dumb.

Drew always made it clear to Nico and anyone with half a brain that she and Will would make the perfect couple. She blatantly ogled him when they had class together, always made an effort to sit next to Will and drag him into partnered projects. Will was oblivious to her flirty advances and politely declined her invitations out of awkwardness. He preferred to partner with Nico, he said.

That always resulted in an icy jeer Nico’s way who sent one back equally as menacing. But today, Nico was taken aback. Drew told him not to be such a ‘fag’ and to do Will a favour then walked away before Nico could protest. He sat there emotions stirring and scared. He wasn’t a fag... But he didn’t want to give it to Will either. He had no idea how the dense guy would react and Nico was afraid. He didn’t want to lose his best friend. Not to her.

“Oh, um...” Nico deflated. “I forgot to give that to you.”  _ Not really _ . Nico had forgotten he left it in his notebook, possibly to forget forever or until the next to he opened his math book for homework to then burn it when he had the chance.

“What is it?” Will said reaching for the slip.

Nico reluctantly passed it over. “Drew told me to give it to you,” he mumbled. “I’m not really sure what it is...”

Will unfolded it and his eyes widened. “She likes me?”

  
  


The sky reminded Nico of the cotton candy he’d always get at the fair with Will. The sun was dipping below the horizon backlitting the forest behind their houses. The two were lying on the cold, tiled roof outside Will’s window. He was bundled up head to toe with his Pokemon blanket wrapped around him. He was just a bundle of sunshine, he is.

Nico gazed at Will, who was tinted pink by the fading rays. It was his turn at 20 questions. They had already gone through the usual.  _ How’s Bianca? Good. How’s Lee and Michael? They’re good too, Lee’s trying out for the Olympics. That’s cool. Yeah. _

Will looked at peace in the moment but Nico had to ask. “What have you been stressed out about lately?”

The taller boy laid still. He sighed. “That noticeable, huh?”

“Will.” Nico turned towards him.

“I just…” Will sat up. “I don’t know.” The sun gave way to the night sky; Autumn lulling the days to become shorter and shorter.

Nico waited and he listened.

“This sounds cliché but I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life, Nico.”

Nico searched his face for any tick of sarcasm. He didn’t find any. Instead he saw his burnt-out best friend, indecisivity clouding his eyes and something else.

“Will, my whole life that I’ve known you, you’ve always dreamed of being a doctor.” He scooted closerl. “Do you not want to anymore? Because that’s okay you know.”

Will shook his head. “No that’s not it. I did want to be a doctor- No, I still do… It’s just--,” he sighed, “--I don’t know if I can do it. What if it’s not right for me Nico? What if I can’t get in. What if I can’t do it.”

“Will.” Nico stared at him. “Will, look at me.” When Will wouldn’t look up, Nico butted his shoulder painfully with his head. “You are the smartest, most capable boy I know.” He smiled sheepishly, “Except math, BUT I’ve known since we were 5 when you patched up my skidded knee with that Toothless bandaid, we would be best friends.” He poked him. “I also  _ knew  _ you would be the best doctor in the tri-state area if not the world.”

Will blinked his eyes for a moment before the sparkle returned with his smile. 

“Plus, there’s no other doctor out there I trust more than you to patch me up.”

Will wriggled partway out of his blanket cocoon to pull Nico into a one-armed hug. “Thanks Nico.” 

Nico dropped his gaze thankful for the shadows that hid his blush. Another thing he wouldn’t say was that Will had made Nico feel at home here in a foreign country where he only had his older sister and dad. But if home was only there when Will was there to make it one, Nico didn’t know what to do.

It was the last couple months of their senior year. He wasn’t sure what  _ he  _ wanted to do. But more than that he knew he wanted these moments with Will to last. But how could it? 

The stupid feeling that was stirring inside him. It clenched tighter and tighter as time ticked by until they will have to eventually part ways. To say goodbye.

“You’re not the only one who can read the other like a book.” Will huddled closer to Nico and nudged his shoulder gently. “What about you Nico?” 

Nico fell silent. He felt the pricks of tears forming. “Yeah, me too.” He was stressed. About school, about life, about Will. But especially about Will. There was no way Will could stay here to pursue medicine. He would have to move somewhere far to find a decent program. Heck, the best schools were across the country and that’s where Will deserved to be.

“I- I just don’t know what I would do…”  _ Without you. _

\----------

Will studied Nico quietly. He clenched and unclenched his hand glancing at the pale one of his best friend sitting beside him. 

Will wanted to tell him. Always had since they came out to each other; him as pan and Nico as gay. But Nico was his best friend. He had been since Nico moved next door and welcomed Will with open arms. So he couldn’t do it. To him; to their friendship because how could Nico ever look at him as anything more?

Besides that, he saw what happened with Jason and Piper. Childhood best friends who no longer talked. It set an awkward divide in their group and it hurt Will to see the once inseparable couple of best friends become nothing less than strangers.

But something overcame Will. Maybe it was the impending sense of their likely separation. 

Or maybe it was the light of the moon that reflected off the streak that fell down Nico’s cheek. His eyes were glassy as he blinked profusely. Will was sure he was the same. His heart was thundering.

Nico turned slowly to him before he lowered his obsidian-coloured gaze to Will and his linked hands.

“Nico, I-” Will swallowed back his hoarse voice. “I really like you.”

  
  


“Will, are you still crying?” Will blew his nose noisily; hand still interlocked with Nico. The two were walking back across the carpet of snow white towards the set of wooden, oak doors.

Will was dressed in a sleek black tuxedo and a deep umber bow tie. The same shade of his husband’s eyes. His  _ husband _ .

Will choked up again at the sight of him. The beautiful shorter boy was dressed in a white suit and just like Will’s own bow tie, the colour of his tie was baby blue to match Will’s eyes.

Nico affectionately rolled his eyes back at him. He tucked his bouquet under his arm and brought a hand up to wipe the tears that spilled from Will’s eyes. “You’re such a sap.”

The two each laid a hand on the polished silver handles and with a push, the heavyset doors swung open. They were greeted with the sounds of church bells ringing clear and the exuberant cheers of their loved ones. 

Will had held down the new wave of sniffles threatening to overcome his tear ducts. He was so happy as he beamed at his friends; at  _ Nico _ .

He saw the same shimmering glean in Nico’s eyes which was made prominent against his dark irises. The small smile that settled on his face made Will’s heart soar. Then the  _ rice  _ started.

The shower of rice didn’t hurt as much as the onslaught of fowl seeking a free lunch did. It was almost as if they were demigods being attacked by a flock of bird monsters. But overall, it wasn't bad. In fact it was perfect.

The grooms’ parties: Cecil, Lou Ellen, Austin, Reyna, Percy and Jason, were trying to chase the birds away by running about like manic scarecrows in a winter scene; the rice that rained down looked like snow. Will and Nico laughed and enjoyed the chaos before them when Will caught Nico’s attention.

Will could feel his lips widen into a smirk. “You know this is our grand exit, right?”

Nico eyed him cautiously, his frown surfacing. “Will…”

“It wouldn’t feel like a grand exit if we didn’t put on a show, amiright?”

“Will, I swear to all the pantheons out there that if you so much as dip me I-”

Amid the chaos of shedding doves, the attacks on the crowd and the rice raining down around them, Will tugged Nico’s waist to him and dipped him with a big smooch.

He brought them back up, cheeks hurting so much that he could feel his dimples settling in for permanence. 

Nico flushed red from the tip of his ears to his neck. “Will!” Nico punched Will’s arm softly. He then hid his face in the crook of Will’s neck as a shrill whistle that sounded like it came from Piper catcalled from the crowds.

Nico groaned but Will felt the shorter boy’s lips curl up into a small smile. “I want a divorce.”

“Babe-,” Will grinned, “-so soon?” Will swooped his husband off his feet. “Too bad-” he kissed him on the nose. “-Because I was just getting started.” 

  
  


Will’s eighteen-hour shift at the hospital on a Friday just ended. He wasn’t supposed to stay that long but he was the only one there able to cover his sick colleague’s shift. He clocked out at 8:09pm and dreaded the walk to the bus stop, much less the hour bus ride home. To make matters worse, it was  _ snowing _ . Of course Will didn’t bring the car that day. His fault for trying to help the environment.

If it was any consolation, Will reminded himself he had the whole weekend off. So did Nico. A whole weekend with Nico, just the two of them, snuggled up in bed for who knows how long it had been. God forbid his phone better not ring for the next 48 hours.

Will approached the automatic sliding glass doors and steeled himself for the onslaught of a winter blizzard. He stepped out and immediately cursed his fate. He huddled himself inside his parkar, hood tightened around his beanied head and went to cut straight across the filled drop off zone.

“Hey there sunshine.” 

Will screeched to a halt and looked up. 

“Need a ride?”

There his husband was, all bundled up, looking like an angel on earth. Nico’s chin was resting easily on his hand; his arm settled upon the steering wheel of his black Corolla with the window rolled halfway down.

“Nico!” Will felt his heart swell as he strode over to the car, appreciative for the blast of warm air that met him. “What are you doing here?” He gave Nico a kiss on the cheek. “Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“And miss picking up my husband after a whole day of doctoring?” Nico kissed him back. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“You spoil me too much.” Will reached for Nico’s unused hand as he put the car into drive. “But seriously, don’t you usually have work at this time?”

Nico’s nose scrunched up at the contact. “Your cold,” he whined. He turned the wheel expertly with one hand. “But, yeah I took half the day off.”

“How?” Will looked at him curiously. It was already a miracle that he and Nico had the whole weekend off together. He couldn’t imagine Nico’s boss letting Nico take half of the Friday off too. “Also why? Not like I’m complaining.” He squeezed his hand. “I’m so thankful babe.”

“I called in on a little favour someone owed me.” He flicked on the indicator. “Also I made lasagna before I got here.”

“God, I love you.”

\----------

Nico awoke wrapped in the warm embrace of Will. It was still early judging by what little light peeked through the curtains. He watched the rise and fall of Will’s chest and listened to his little intakes of breath.

After they got home from the hospital the previous night, Nico warmed up the lasagna as Will took a much needed warm shower. They settled into a nest of blankets on the couch with Nico’s heavenly lasagna and some Avatar. After a night of ‘that’s rough buddy’ and Will gushing over Zuko, they settled into bed. They talked about each other's weeks and as the conversation lulled, it spiralled into deep conversation up until the AMs. 

Nico smiled to himself. He thought back to all those years before when he hadn’t wanted friends; when he was far away from the home he had known. To when he first met Will at his front door who became his first friend. His  _ best  _ friend.

Nico felt the oncoming drowsiness of sleep start to take over again as he snuggled into Will. Will, his  _ home _ .

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading<3
> 
> ((I find that I love writing fics based off songs asdfghjk))  
> Also, I make Riordanverse playlists and I'm planning to do a little challenge for myself where I write kinda regular fics for the next month (cause I'm on uni holidays) about Nico and Will based on my Solangelo playlist. I plan to chose 1 song per letter from A-Z and make a collection of oneshots from that. But who knows if I'll stick to it because I also half a bunch of multi-chaptered fics in the works hehe..


End file.
